


Colors

by goldentickettoimagination



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-10-24 09:28:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10738896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldentickettoimagination/pseuds/goldentickettoimagination
Summary: I listened to Colors (Stripped) by Halsey to write this. Feedback would be greatly appreciated!Additional Warnings: Slight swearing, alcohol and blood mention.





	Colors

This is hard.

But he just couldn’t bring himself to do it earlier on.

It would have been easier though.

With the people in charge of the fight club out looking for him, he knew they’d kill anyone including you to get to him.

They wouldn’t want anyone interfering with getting one of their best fighters back.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You had stumbled across him in an alleyway after he had gotten into a fight with a group of men who were looking for trouble.

They had found it.

In the haze of cigarette smoke flowing down from the open window of the building above you and the dim blue light pouring out onto the street as you were walking home, you saw the silhouette of what looked like a pair of wings.

It’s the shattering of a bottle and a scream that makes you turn your head to look down the alley and see that a fight is happening. This wasn’t a new sight for you, fights happened all the time around here. Especially this late at night. This fight however was three against one.

“HEY!” you yell.

The men run off as one of them clutches their bloody arm that has a deep gash caused from the broken bottle you see shining on the ground. 

Once the men are out of sight you rush over to the person who’s struggling to move back against the bricked wall. You’re yelling for help, but when you get close enough you go silent and you’re stopped in your tracks by the sight of large white wings that’s covered in gravel and blood.

“They made me waste a perfectly good drink.” He laughs as his head hangs low.

You don’t know what to do. Do you call an ambulance? You thought to yourself. Or so you thought. When he responded “No. It’s just a few scratches. I’ll live. I’ve been through worse.” And something tells you he has.

As he struggles to get up and falls right back to the ground, you grab one of his arms and sling it over your shoulder as you head towards the entrance of the bar across the street. This guy can barely stand up on his own, let alone walk and you can’t just leave him out here like this.

When you walk into the bar, the owner rushes to help you as you struggle trying to hold this guy up and get him through the door without his wings hitting against the door frame.

“Y/N, I thought you were going home. What the hell happened?”

“So did I Mitch, but him and three other guys were fighting in the alley. They ran off and I couldn’t just leave him there.”

The bar was pretty empty tonight aside from Carlos and Wendy who liked to hang out until it was closing time. They both greet you but neither makes a move to help. Carlos is too busy stuttering about the fact that this guy you’re dragging in here has wings. Mitch sighs as he leads you to the back room where you can take the guy to get cleaned up.

“You could’ve gotten yourself hurt Y/N! You should have left him.”

You shook your head.

“You and I both know I couldn’t have done that.”

“I know.” Mitch says as he sighs again.

“There’s a first aid kit and medicine under the counter.”

“Thank you!” You call out to him as he closes the door.

You kick a stool from under the sink to let the guy sit on while you rummage around for the bandages and medicine.

“You’re quite popular here.” The guy says to you.

“Yeah, and you’re not.” was your response.

“That’s true.” he says with a laugh, but then clutches the side of his chest.

“If you have broken ribs, I’m afraid that’s beyond my knowledge of healing.”

“There not broken. One of those pricks just got a good kick in.”

You move to sit in front of him as you pull out a box of bandages and antiseptic wipes.

“This will sting a little.” you tell him as you take a hold of his hands and run the wipe over his bloody knuckles.

He lets out a hiss as you wipe away the blood and dirt.

“How do they know your name out there?” He asks to keep his mind off the fact that the back of his hands feel like they’re on fire.

“I work here.”

He snickers. “You work here?”

“Yes, what’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing, you just don’t look like the type of person who’d work in a bar. Especially around here.”

You don’t respond. You just move a hand to his chin to lift his head and wipe off the remaining blood. When you lift his head, he brushes his hair away from his face. To say you were a little surprised would be an understatement. He was handsome. Even with a bloody lip, a couple of bruises and scratches that now littered his face.

“Please don’t tell me they screwed up my face.” He says.

He was wondering why you were staring so long.

“You know, for someone who just got their ass kicked. You’re pretty full of yourself.”

He laughs. “Trust me, I went easy on them. I could have killed all three of them if I wanted by the time you made it down the alley.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I didn’t need to.”

“Have you killed anyone before?” you ask as you place your hands in your lap.

“No, I just get into a lot of fights.”

“Is that how that happened?” you ask pointing to his wing.

The immediate change in his expression told you that was not something he wanted to talk about.

“Sorry.” you say as you finish bandaging his knuckles and face.

“You’re all done. The wounds should heal easily as long as you stay out of fights. So, keep that in mind.

“I can’t make that promise.” He says as he shrugs back on a black leather jacket.

“Thank you.” He tells you as he heads out the door.

“You’re welcome.” you respond as you move to clean up the mess of bloody rags and bandages.

When you finally clean up, you grab your things so you can go home.

Well, that’s what you thought for the second time tonight.

You don’t know where you expected him to go, but you weren’t expecting him to be sitting at the bar asking Mitch for a second drink.

“Seriously, don’t you think you should take it easy on the alcohol?” you ask.

“Nope.” he says as he downs another shot.

“Another.” he calls out to Mitch.

Mitch looks at you and you shake your head silently telling him not to give this guy another drink.

“Where do you live?” you ask him.

“Around. Why?”

“Considering you’re getting pretty drunk, I’m walking you home.”

"Thanks, but you’ve helped me enough. I appreciate the offer though.”

“I wasn’t offering, I’m telling.”

Mitch laughs. “Kid, I’m not serving you another drink, so it’s best you go with Y/N.”

The guy looks from Mitch to you and shrugs his shoulder as he gets up from the bar stool.

You quickly move to help him before he face plants on the wooden floor.

“Seems like you need me after all.”

The guys only response is a groan.

“Bye Mitch. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye Y/N! Make sure you give me a call when you get home so I know you got there safely.”

“I will.”

“And kid.” He calls out to the guy slumping on your shoulder.

“You’re lucky, any other person would have left you bloody and beaten in the alley. Your real lucky it was Y/N.”

“Yeah, thanks for saving my ass.” He says to you.

As you struggle to open the bar door the cold wind feels like a glass of cold water thrown into your face.

“Come on, I need you to help me out. You’re heavy and I can’t carry you.”

“Alright, alright.” He says as he loudly moves his feet against the sidewalk.

“Okay good, now where do you live?”

“I don’t know.”

You sigh. This wasn’t how you were planning on spending your Friday night.

“Alright then, looks like I’ll have a roommate tonight.” you say more to yourself than to him as you cross the street and head towards your apartment.

Trying to get this guy inside the building as quietly as you could was a fail.

His wings knocking against every door you passed to get to yours.

When you open your door the both of you go crashing to the floor.

He thought it was hilarious, letting out a good loud laugh as you both struggled to get to your feet.

“Okay, shut up!” You whispered.

All this does is make him laugh louder.

“Are you done?” you ask him when he finally stops laughing.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Good. I guess you can take my room since I don’t think the couch will be big enough for you.”

“The couch is fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure, you’ve done enough for me in one night. I don’t want to take over your room too.”

“Okay.” You say as you move to pull out blankets and pillows for the closet to arrange them on the couch.

Once you set up the couch as comfortable as you can, you head to the kitchen.

When you walk back into the living room you hand him a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin.

“Here. This should help with the hangover you’ll probably have.”

“Thank you.” He says as he takes the glass of water from you and drinks it along with an aspirin.

“Alright, well I’m going to bed. The bathroom is on your left and there’s towels and extra blankets in the cabinet to your right.” You tell him as you turn to head to your room.

“Thank you again for helping me out tonight.”

“You’re welcome.” You yawn as you’re getting ready to close your bedroom door.

“I just realized I never asked you your name?”

“Warren.”

“Warren. Well, goodnight Warren.” You say yawning again.

“Goodnight Y/N.” he replies.

Apart of you is wondering if you’re crazy for letting a total stranger crash here, but you’re too tired to care at this point.

You go to your bathroom to get cleaned up and then hop into bed.

As soon as your head hits the pillow, you went straight to sleep.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You aren’t sure what time it is when you wake up, not by choice though. You still felt like you needed at least two more hours before you were ready to get up.

But you hear something shatter in your living and you spring out of bed thinking someone has broken in.

That is until you swing your door open and are greeted with an immediate 

“I’m Sorry!”

This is why you offered him the bedroom instead of the small living room.

One of his wings had knocked over a lamp that was sitting on a small table at the foot of the sofa.

You weren’t really paying attention to the broken lamp however.

Warren looked much better than he did just last night.

He doesn’t seem to be hungover like you thought he would be, and his wings are pure white. The blood and dirt that hid their beauty having been washed away.

You walk to the supply closet to grab a broom to sweep up the broken glass.

“Here, I’ll do it.” He says as he takes the broom from your hands.

You walk to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee.

“Did you sleep alright?” you ask him.

“Yeah, I slept fine. You?”

“Good. Still a little exhausted, but good.”

He smiles and then clears his throat.

“I should probably get going.”

“Remember where you live now?” you laugh.

The fact that he pauses before giving you an answer makes you worry.

“You do have somewhere to go, right?”

“I don’t ever stay in one place for long.”

“That doesn’t really answer my question.” You tell him.

“No.”

“No that doesn’t answer my question or no you don’t have anywhere to go?”

“Both, but no I don’t have anywhere to go.”

“Where were you staying before?”

You can tell he’s hesitant to tell you, but he’s thinking about all you’ve done for him and you don’t even know him. 

He figures he might as well tell you.

“I wasn’t really staying anywhere. I was a part of this fight club a few towns over…”

“A fight club?”

“Yes, some assholes got a kick out of mutants fighting one another for sport. They started this underground fight club that I was apart of for a while, but I got away during a fight with an opponent which is why one of my wings are damaged. I’ve been trying to lay low in case they’re out looking for me.”

“Laying low? You just got into fight last night!” you bellow.

“I said trying! And that’s really all you got out of that?”

“No. It’s just…I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” he ask.

“For what you probably had to go through.”

He sighs. “I’m fine.”

You can tell he’s lying.

You stay quiet for a couple of minutes while you think.

“Look Warren, if you need…”

“No, Y/N. You’ve done enough. I don’t want you to get involved if these jerks really are looking for me. If I can keep you out of this, I will.”

“I can look out for myself.”

“I don’t doubt that, but I don’t think you understand what these people are capable of.”

“Then where do you plan on going?”

“I don’t know. I’ll figure something out.” He says as he pulls his jacket on.

“Are you leaving now?” you ask him.

“Yes.” He says as he makes his way towards the door.

“Warren, I literally just offered you a place to stay and your leaving to do what?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then why are you leaving?”

“Why do care so much about helping me?”

“Not everyone around here is an asshole you know?”

“Yeah. I’m starting to get that.” He smiles. 

“Sure maybe most people wouldn’t let a stranger stay the night in their place but…”

“But what?” he asks.

“You need help so let me help you. I can try and get you a job at the bar I work, if you promise not to drink on the job. You can stay here until you get enough money to find your own place or whatever. So, will you let me help?"

He sighs and takes a moment to think about this. He knows he has nowhere else to go, no money to take a train somewhere else, and here you are standing in front of him offering all of that. He wants to say no. There’s the little voice in the back of his head telling him to leave, but…

“Alright.”

He decides to stay.

You let out a sigh of relief. “Good.” you smile as you head back to the kitchen after hearing the coffee pot go off.

And that’s part of the reason he’s decided to stay. That smile. He’s only seen it twice since you’ve met, and he knows if he would have turned down your offer. He wouldn’t have seen it again when he left.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You do exactly what you told him you would. 

When you get to the bar that night you ask Mitch if he can hire Warren. 

Mitch was telling you how he was looking for someone to hire, so why not Warren? 

Mitch was hesitant as first.

“Y/N, the kid has huge wings coming out of his back! How will he work without knocking shit over with every turn he makes?”

Mitch was a good guy; he was like you. He had no problem with mutants and saw them just like anyone else he ran into.

Mitch sighs. “Y/N I know you want to help the boy, but…”

“Mitch, come on.” You whine. “Look, I’ll show him around. I’ll show him how to make the drinks, everything. He’ll be my responsibility.”

“Dammit Y/N, fine! The kid can have the job.”

“Thank you Mitch!” you squeal as you hug him.

“Yeah, yeah. He can start tonight.” Mitch tells you as he ruffles your hair.

You hop down from the bar stool and make your way over to Warren.

“He said no didn’t he?” he asks.

“No, you got the job!” You smile.

“What? I didn’t need to show off my skills or anything?”

“If your skills include not breaking anything, Mitch really doesn’t care.” You laugh.

“Okay, so I don’t break anything and I keep the job?”

“Basically, and no fighting or drinking. Then you won’t get fired.”

“Alright, I think I can do this.” He says.

“I’m glad to hear the enthusiasm because you start work tonight.”

“What? Already, I don’t know the first thing about making drinks.”

“That’s why I’m about to show you. You’re my trainee.” You tell him as you grab his arm and lead him towards the bar.

“I’ll show you how to make the simple drinks, usually the ones people order the most here.”

“So we are starting out easy until the drinks get harder to make, right?” he questions.

“None of them are really hard to make.”

“How long have you been doing this?”

“Almost a year.”

“And that’s why it doesn’t seem hard. You’ve been doing this for a while. I’m sure I’ll screw up making one of these simple drinks you’re talking about.”

“Try not to.” You tell him as you pat him on the shoulder.

“Alright I’m going to show you how to make a martini.”

But he’s not listening. Not when he’s seeing you smile again.

Warren’s first night on the job was a breeze. Nothing broke and he insisted on serving a few more customers to become a little more confident with mixing the drinks.

One night of work down, many more to go.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two months have gone by since Warren started working at the bar, and it’s safe to say that he’s gotten better with every shift.

Even though he had saved up enough money to find his own place a couple of weeks ago, you enjoyed his company.

And he enjoyed yours so you both practically became housemates.

Warren didn’t leave the apartment other than to go to work, still fearing the people in charge of the fight club would be lurking around.

You both had to go into work a little earlier tonight because Mitch would be taking the day off.

When you both head down to the bar and open up, a few of the regulars come in and greet you both as they take a seat at the bar and order a drink.

While Warren headed to the back room to replace a few of the empty liquor bottle with new ones, a group of men come bursting into the bar.

You can tell all three of them are already drunk as they make their way to the vacant bar stools.

As one of them whistles at you to call you over you already know that they will be trouble.

“What can I get for you?” you ask.

“Three beers.” One of the men replies.

“Alright.”

“And grab one for yourself too baby.”

You silently groan to yourself as you grab three beers and head back over to the counter.

“Thanks, but I can’t drink on the job.”

“When do you get off? We can have a couple drinks. What do you say?” the man says eyeing you up and down.

“I’ll pass.” You were getting ready to tell him.

Until all three men immediately jumped to their feet as Warren came back to the front.

“You son of a bitch!” one of the men yelled breaking a beer bottle over the side of the counter.

You realize that this is the same three men Warren had gotten into a fight that night in the alley.

As Warren walks towards them you put a hand against his chest to stop him from getting any closer.

“If you’re going to start trouble, leave now.” You say turning to the men.

“We’re not going anywhere. We are paying customers.”

“Yeah, paying customers.” Another one of them echoes.

“So how about you get us some more drinks toots.”

You nod your head as you push Warren to the backroom.

“Look, just stay in here until they leave.” You tell him.

“You and I both know that those assholes aren’t going to leave with causing a fight.”

You sigh because you know he’s right.

“Well to avoid that happening, just stay on this side all right?”

“I don’t want you near them.” Warren says as he holds the door closed before you can open it.

“No one else is here to serve them and you can’t do it. I’ll be fine. Come on.” You tell him as he moves to let you through.

You grab three more beers and set them in front of the men as you move to take another customers order.

Warren is turning his head back every couple of seconds to make sure you’re alright.

The men are clearly aware of this, and since they don’t plan on leaving without a fight. They plan to use this to their advantage.

“Hey toots, come here for a second.”

“Yes?” you say walking back over to them.

“You said you couldn’t drink on the job. What are you doing after you get off work? You never gave me an answer on whether you wanted to share a few drinks with me?”

“Thanks for the offer, but no.” You tell him as politely as you can.

As you begin to walk away, he grabs you by the wrist.

“Oh come on. Just one drink.”

“Hey!” Warren yells as he comes rushing over to you and grabs the guy by the back of his head and shoving his face into the bar counter.

The second guy hops up on a bar stool, but Warren pushes him to the ground before he can get any closer.

The third guy doesn’t even try to put up a fight. He just holds his hands up in surrender.

“Get out!” Warren yells.

The three men quickly get up and leave the bar.

“Are you okay?” Warren asks.

“I’m fine, are you okay?” you ask in response.

He sighs. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Carlos slowly walks up to the counter to where the both of you are standing.

“If you want to close up earlier than usual tonight, I’ll tell everyone to leave.”

You look to Warren and you know it’s best if you just close for the night.

“Yeah, that’s fine Carlos. Thanks.” You reply.

“No problem.” He says as he starts telling everyone to clear out.

After you and Warren lock up, you head out.

When you get back to the apartment Warren goes to sit on the sofa as he tries to soothe the tension on the back of his hand.

You walk to the kitchen and grab an ice pack out the freezer.

“Here.” You say tossing him the pack.

“Thanks.”

“I did tell you to stay out it.”

“I know.”

“I told you I’d handle it.”

“I know Y/N, but…” he trails off.

“But what?”

He laughs “Are you seriously this blind?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I guess so.” He says to himself.

“Warren?”

“For crying out loud.” He says as he gets up from the sofa and walks right over to you.

“What are you…”

You’re cut off when his lips meet yours.

“I don’t want you getting hurt because of me.” He says.

“Oh.”

“Oh? That’s your only response?”

You hadn’t meant to just say “Oh.” But the fact that he just kissed you had you pretty stunned.

But you’re smiling.

“I’m going to take that as a good “Oh” then?” he laughs.

“Mhhmm.”

“Good.” He says as he kisses you again.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When you both show up for work the next day, Mitch notices something is different between the two of you but he doesn’t know what.

It’s not until he heads to the back room for something that he sees you and Warren kissing.

He smiles to himself before clearing his throat.

“I’m not paying you two to be back here kissing. There are customers out there who are waiting for some drinks to be made.”

“Sorry Mitch.” You say embarrassed as you make your way pass him.

“What she said.” Warren says to Mitch before walking pass him also.

But Mitch holds up a hand to Warren’s chest.

“Promise me something kid, will you?”

Warren nods his head.

“You’ll make sure to look out for Y/N right?”

“Of course.” Warren replies swallowing the lump in his throat.

“Alright then.” Mitch says patting Warren on the chest.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Warren was the first one up. He always was.

But only now was he grateful for that.

You’re still asleep, and you look so peaceful.

His fingertips trace down from your cheekbone to your shoulders light enough to not wake you.

When the phone starts ringing, Warren slowly gets out of bed.

“Hello?”

“Hey kid, it’s Mitch.”

“Oh, hey Mitch. Do you need me to come down…?”

“No. I need you to listen alright?”

“Okay.” Warren says.

“These guys just came in here about 5 minutes ago. They had been waiting out in the front since I opened this morning.”

Warren’s immediate thought is that it was those assholes he fought with again.

“They were asking for you. They said some guys told them they could find you here.”

“Shit.”

“Kid? Are you in some sort of trouble with these people? I can call the police?”

“No. What did you tell them?”

“I told them you didn’t work here anymore and that you left town.”

Warrens sighs. “Alright then, that should give me enough time.”

“Time for what? Kid, who are these people?”

“It doesn’t matter. Thanks for everything Mitch.” Warren says as he hangs up the phone.

Warren’s running his fingers through his hair and trying to figure out what he’s going to do now. They are looking for him, and sooner or later they are going to find out he’s here.

He wasn’t expecting for them to catch up with him after a few months since he escaped.

He thought it would take a week or a few days at the most.

But it’s months.

Months for him to become accustomed to the area.

Months for him to become friends with a couple of the locals.

Months for him to care about the people here.

And months for him to fall for her.

And now…

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When you wake up it’s probably around 11 am.

Warren’s not in bed and you don’t hear him in the kitchen like you usually do.

But the smell of freshly brewed coffee tells you otherwise.

You get out of bed and grab a t-shirt to throw on.

When you walk out into the living room, Warren’s not there.

You walk into the kitchen and pickup your coffee that has now gone cold.

You pop it into the microwave for a few minutes before taking it back to your room.

Warren must have gone out for something, you thought to yourself.

Walking back to your room and carefully siting on the bed with your cup of coffee, you grab one of the pillows to place behind you so you can sit back.

That’s when you found the letter.

It was folded neatly and your name was written on the outside.

You pick it up off the cover and open it.

Your eyes are scanning across the letter not really reading it until you reach the end and read the words “I’m sorry.”

As you read through the whole letter this time, your hands are clutching at your shirt.

And you realize, it was one of his.


End file.
